Brad Jacobs

QXO · XPO · United Rentals · United Waste Systems · b. 1956

Brad Jacobs builds large companies by buying and improving businesses in fragmented industries. He began with oil brokerage and trading, then applied a similar approach to waste collection, equipment rental and logistics. His method combines industry research, disciplined deal prices, shared technology and close attention to the people who run the acquired businesses. He founded United Waste Systems in 1989 and United Rentals in 1997, and led the transformation of Express-1 into XPO in 2011. XPO later separated its warehouse and freight-brokerage operations into GXO and RXO. Jacobs now leads QXO, which entered building-products distribution in 2024 and acquired Beacon in 2025. QXO reports that he and his teams have completed about 500 acquisitions and raised more than $60 billion in institutional capital. His interests extend beyond deals. Music, meditation and cognitive psychology inform his approach to meetings, attention and setbacks. His two books explain his operating methods and the thinking behind them. In public interviews, he also identifies science and technology books that influenced his view of organizations and long-term change.

Covered 7× ↓

Which books are linked to Brad Jacobs?

These are examples from the documented shelf. Each label describes the connection; a book on the shelf is not always a recommendation.

Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, and Susan Carnicero with Don Tennant — Praised. Source
Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, and Susan Carnicero — Praised. Source

See the full shelf and source notes

Contents

Career highlights

1979Started Amerex Oil Associates, a privately owned oil brokerage, at age 23.
1983Sold Amerex; moved to London the next year to start oil-trading company Hamilton Resources.
1989Founded United Waste Systems after returning to the United States.
1992Took United Waste public. The company was sold for $2.5 billion in 1997.
1997Founded United Rentals, applying a consolidation strategy to equipment rental.
2011Led the investment in Express-1 that became XPO, using acquisitions and technology to expand logistics operations.
2021XPO separated its contract-logistics business as GXO.
2022XPO separated its freight-brokerage business as RXO; Jacobs moved from CEO to executive chairman at XPO.
2024Published How to Make a Few Billion Dollars. Led the $1 billion investment that launched QXO in building-products distribution.
2025QXO completed the Beacon acquisition on April 29. His second book, How to Make a Few More Billion Dollars, was published on December 9.
2026QXO acquired Kodiak Building Partners on April 1 and completed its TopBuild acquisition on July 1, expanding beyond roofing distribution.

Lessons for founders

Research the industry before choosing the company. Study its size, fragmentation and long-term trends. Jacobs researched hundreds of companies before selecting QXO’s market.
Buying a business is only the start. Integration determines whether the deal creates value. Set common operating methods and check the work after the purchase.
Keep room to act when conditions change. Debt can remove that room. Test how the business would cope with a weaker market before adding leverage.
Ask employees what should change and what should stay. Jacobs uses employee feedback to find problems and preserve strengths. The people close to the work often see both first.
Connect pay to useful results. Reward performance and cooperation. Jacobs describes compensation tied to the operating measures that matter to each role.
Choose people who can work well together. His hiring criteria include intelligence, honesty, effort and the ability to cooperate. Strong individual skills alone do not make a team.
Give meetings your full attention. Jacobs connects this habit to music: listen to the other people, respond to what is happening and leave room for improvisation.
Question the thought that follows a setback. In his personal essay, Jacobs explains how he examines an upsetting interpretation and considers other ways to understand the event.